Severely Injured Driver Receives Compensation for Road Traffic Accident Despite Negligence of Former Solicitors
Solicitor Negligence
30/06/2008
A woman has received £300,000 compensation after being badly injured in a road traffic accident despite the negligence of her former solicitors putting her claim in jeopardy.
Ms L was travelling in a car that collided with a vehicle which had crossed over the central reservation of a dual carriageway in June 2001. The impact of the collision pushed Ms L's vehicle into the path of another vehicle.
Ms L suffered whiplash injuries, a fracture pelvis, right shoulder, arm and thigh as well as a dislocation fracture of her left foot. She remained conscious throughout the ordeal.
The driver of the second vehicle was uninsured and so the claim was pursued against the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB).
Ms L instructed a firm of solicitors to handle her claim. However, the solicitors were negligent in failing to provide proper notice to the MIB and had to discontinue proceedings against the MIB.
Ms L then instructed Irwin Mitchell in January 2005, who were able to argue that the MIB had been wrong at law to take the notice point. As a result the MIB were rejoined to proceedings and the claim proceeded.
Settlement was achieved in March 2008. Sion Kingston of Head of the IM PI Professional Negligence team says "This is a prime example of how obtaining expert legal opinion can help turn around cases. Irwin Mitchell have a long history of being able to rescue cases which have been poorly or negligently handled by other firms. In this case, we were able to proceed against the original defendant and achieve the best possible outcome for Ms L."